Menotti: The Unicorn, the Gorgon and the Manticore
R. Murray Schafer: A Medieval Bestiary
Saturday, May 4th, 2019 at 8:00 p.m.
First Church, Cambridge
The Metropolitan Chorale is joined by fellow Boston area creative arts forces the Puppet Showplace Theater and The Callithumpian Consort to present “The Unicorn, the Gorgon and the Manticore” by Gian Carlo Menotti and “A Medieval Bestiary” by R. Murray Schafer.
The stories of both pieces will be on display through the work of the Puppet Showplace Theater, led by Artistic Director Roxanna Myhrum.
In “A Medieval Bestiary,” we invite you to explore the curious headspace of the 12th century writers of “A Book of Beasts.” The animal descriptions, while perplexing to modern audiences, reveal an ability to simultaneously see the biological, moral, and divine dimensions of each creature. The texts, and Schafer’s music, put us in touch with our very real sense of yearning to feel connected to the beauty, mystery, and meaning of the natural world. To express this complicated sentiment we have combined the medieval illustrations with contemporary shadow theater and the embodied form of worship known as liturgical dance. In this form, light can both illuminate and distort what we perceive and we can explore what it feels like for images of god, man, and beast to all occupy the same shadowy realm.